Lake Pontchatrain From Southbound Causeway Entrance

Lake Pontchartrain ( ; ) is an

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...

located in southeastern

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some

shipping channel In physical geography and hydrology, a channel is a landform on which a relatively narrow body of water is situated, such as a river, river delta or strait. While ''channel'' typically refers to a natural formation, the cognate term ''canal'' de ...

s are kept deeper through

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing d ...

. It is roughly oval in shape, about from west to east and from south to north. In descending order of area, the estuary is located in parts of six Louisiana

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

: St. Tammany, Orleans, Jefferson, St. John the Baptist, St. Charles, and Tangipahoa. The water boundaries were defined in 1979 (see

list of parishes in Louisiana The U.S. state of Louisiana is divided into 64 parishes (; ), making it the only state besides Alaska to call its primary subdivisions something other than "counties." Louisiana's usage of the term "parish" for a geographic region or local go ...

). The estuary is crossed by the

Lake Pontchartrain Causeway The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway (), also known simply as The Causeway, is a fixed link composed of two parallel bridges crossing Lake Pontchartrain in southeastern Louisiana, United States. The longer of the two bridges is long. The southern ...

, the longest continuous bridge over water in the world. A power line also crosses the estuary. Its towers stand on caissons in Lake Pontchartrain, and its length can be used to visually demonstrate the

curvature of the Earth Spherical Earth or Earth's curvature refers to the approximation of the figure of the Earth as a sphere. The earliest documented mention of the concept dates from around the 5th century BC, when it appears in the writings of Greek philosophers. ...

Toponymy

Lake Pontchartrain was named for Louis Phélypeaux, Comte-de-Pontchartrain. He was the French Minister of the Marine,

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

, and

Controller-General of Finances The Controller-General or Comptroller-General of Finances () was the name of the minister in charge of finances in France from 1661 to 1791. It replaced the former position of Superintendent of Finances (''Surintendant des finances''), which was ab ...

during the reign of France's "Sun King",

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

, for whom the colony of La Louisiane was named. The name Pontchartrain itself comes from the place in France where Phélypeaux's château was situated. It is thought that this name originates from it being where a bridge () crossed the river Mauldre on the ancient route from Lutèce to

Chartres Chartres () is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 1 ...

(). Lake Maurepas, directly west of Lake Pontchartrain, was named for Phélypeaux's son, the Comte-de-Maurepas, who was also a French statesman.

Description

Lake Pontchartrain is an

connected to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

via the Rigolets

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

(known locally as "the Rigolets") and Chef Menteur Pass into Lake Borgne, another large lagoon, and therefore experiences small tidal changes. It receives fresh water from the Tangipahoa, Tchefuncte, Tickfaw, Amite, and Bogue Falaya rivers, and from Bayou Lacombe and Bayou Chinchuba. It is one of the largest wetlands along the

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

of North America.Keddy, P.A., D. Campbell, T. McFalls, G. Shaffer, R. Moreau, C. Dranguet, and R. Heleniak. 2007. The wetlands of lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas: past, present, and future. Environmental Reviews 15: 1- 35. It comprises more than 125,000 acres of wetland, including bottomland hardwoods and cypress swamps (although these have been severely degraded by past logging), along with a complex mixture of herbaceous wetlands including fresh, intermediate, and

brackish marsh Brackish marshes develop from salt marshes where a significant freshwater influx dilutes the seawater to brackish levels of salinity. This commonly happens upstream from salt marshes by estuaries of coastal rivers or near the mouths of coastal riv ...

. Lake Pontchartrain itself is part of the larger Pontchartrain Basin, a 10,000 square mile watershed that includes 16 Louisiana parishes and 4 Mississippi counties. The Basin is one of the largest estuarine systems of the Gulf of Mexico. The Pontchartrain Basin includes Lake Pontchartrain and the drainage area of its tributary streams, Lake Maurepas and the drainage area of its tributaries, The Rigolets, Lake Borgne, the Biloxi Marsh and Chandeleur Sound.

Salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt (chemistry), salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensio ...

in Lake Pontchartrain varies from negligible at the northern cusp west of Mandeville up to nearly half the salinity of

seawater Seawater, or sea water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has approximat ...

at its eastern bulge near

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the origina ...

. Lake Maurepas, a true freshwater lake, connects with Lake Pontchartrain on the west via Pass Manchac. The

Industrial Canal The Industrial Canal is a waterway in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The waterway's proper name, as used by the U.S. Army United States Army Corps of Engineers, Corps of Engineers and on NOAA nautical charts, is Inner Harbor Navigation ...

connects the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

with the lake at

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. Bonnet Carré Spillway diverts water from the Mississippi into the lake during times of river

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

ing.

History

The lake was formed 4,000 to 2,600 years ago as the evolving Mississippi River Delta formed its southern and eastern shorelines with alluvial deposits. Human habitation of the region began at least 3,500 years ago. One recorded Indigenous name for the lake is ('wide water'). Habitation increased rapidly with the arrival of Europeans; in 1699, French explorer renamed the Lake after . In 1777, the great American naturalist, William Bartram, explored the north shore during a trip west.Keddy, P.A., D. Campbell, T. McFalls, G. Shaffer, R. Moreau, C. Dranguet, and R. Heleniak. 2007. The wetlands of lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas: past, present and future. Environmental Reviews 15: 1-35. In 1852, a railroad was constructed to link New Orleans to the north. Engines turned at Pass Manchac. However, the pilings were burned to the water line in the Civil War. During the early 20th century, the great cypress swamps of the area were heavily logged and many have not regrown.Keddy, P.A. 2008. Water, Earth, Fire: Louisiana's Natural Heritage. Xlibris, Philadelphia. 229 p. After over 30 years of oil drilling had yielded just 12 million barrels of oil and condensate and 119 billion cubic feet of natural gas, and caused major pollution of the lake, the State Mineral Board enacted a moratorium on oil drilling. As of 2009, there were 4 active wells continuing prior leases, and 25 derelict wells. According to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ), they and the US Coast Guard see at least one

oil spill An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into th ...

per day in Louisiana's wetlands. Estuarine wetlands are among the highest on the Environmental sensitivity Index (ESI).

Conservation and restoration

Owing to past exploitation, such as oil drilling the ecosystems of the lake have been placed under stress. Marshes, for example, are turning to open water, and cypress swamps are being killed by saltwater intrusion. However, brown pelicans and bald eagles, once scarce, were a common sight along the shores as of 2004. A team of experts assembled by

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in ...

assessed the situation in 2004 and identified seven target habitat types in particular need of conservation management: bottomland hardwood forest, cypress swamp, relict ridge woodland, fresh/intermediate marsh, brackish/salt marsh, lake open water, and

littoral The littoral zone, also called litoral or nearshore, is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely i ...

submersed aquatic vegetation. The bottomland hardwood forest and cypress swamp are suffering from a lack of freshwater input and sediment deposition owing to the levees upstream from the lake. In addition, bottomland hardwoods are being invaded by exotic species such as Chinese tallow, while freshwater marshes are being invaded by exotic species such as elephant's-ear. The team identified four key animal species which could indicate the degree to which the system declines or improves. These were the rangia clam (representing lake bottom habitat), gulf sturgeon and

paddlefish Paddlefish (family Polyodontidae) are a family of ray-finned fish belonging to order Acipenseriformes, and one of two living groups of the order alongside sturgeons (Acipenseridae). They are distinguished from other fish by their elongated rost ...

(representing fish communities), and the

alligator snapping turtle The alligator snapping turtle (''Macrochelys temminckii'') is a large species of turtle in the Family (biology), family Chelydridae. They are the largest freshwater turtle in North America. The species is Endemism, endemic to freshwater habitat ...

(one of the largest freshwater turtles in the world, but in decline owing to over-harvesting). The future of the lake depends, in part, on restoring annual spring floods to the wetlands of the lake basin and controlling

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted ...

on the north shore. Selected species, like the paddlefish and alligator snapping turtle, would benefit from reduced harvesting. The lake could change considerably without such conservation planning. As of 2007, a few examples of future change included more cypress swamps converting to anthropogenic marsh or open water, Chinese tallow displacing native forests, and, with a warming climate, mangrove trees replacing brackish marsh. Hence, the ecosystems of the lake now, and in the future, depend very much upon some basic decisions about human activities in the vicinity of the lake, and, even more so, human activity upstream along the Mississippi River. As of 2006, the population in the region was over 1.5 million. There have been many problems with the conservation management of forests and

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

. As of 1995, the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

was monitoring the environmental effects of shoreline

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

, loss of

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...

from urban areas and agriculture,

saltwater intrusion Saltwater intrusion is the movement of saline water into freshwater aquifers, which can lead to groundwater quality degradation, including drinking water sources, and other consequences. Saltwater intrusion can naturally occur in coastal aquifers, ...

from artificial waterways,

, basin subsidence and faulting, storms and

sea level rise The sea level has been rising from the end of the last ice age, which was around 20,000 years ago. Between 1901 and 2018, the average sea level rose by , with an increase of per year since the 1970s. This was faster than the sea level had e ...

, and freshwater diversion from the Mississippi and other rivers. With proper management of this lake and its wetlands, there is great potential to enhance the productivity of wetlands, and to maintain biological diversity to support an ecotourism industry that will diversify the economy.

Northshore

Madisonville lighthouse from the east - end of LA 1077

The area north of Lake Pontchartrain is known as the North Shore or the Northshore. It includes the cities of Mandeville, Covington, Abita Springs, Madisonville, Pearl River, Lacombe, and Slidell in St. Tammany Parish; Ponchatoula, Hammond, Amite, and Kentwood in Tangipahoa Parish; and Bogalusa and Franklinton in Washington Parish. These three Northshore parishes are the eastern

Florida Parishes The Florida Parishes, on the east side of the Mississippi River—an area also known as the Northshore or Northlake region—are eight parishes in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The Florida Parishes were part of what ...

. The landscape here is mostly uplands that were once dominated by long leaf pine

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

s and interrupted by occasional large

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

s. The savannas were maintained by regular fires caused by lightning; they produced the distinctive fauna and flora of this region. Lake Pontchartrain forms the northern boundary of the city of New Orleans, which is coterminous with Orleans Parish, and the northern boundary of its two largest suburbs, Metairie and Kenner; as well as forming the northern boundaries of Jefferson Parish and Saint Charles Parish, and much of the northern and eastern boundaries of Saint John the Baptist Parish. These regions are often referred to as the South Shore, or Southshore.

New Orleans

New Orleans was established at a Native American

portage Portage or portaging ( CA: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a '' ...

between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain. The lake provides numerous recreational activities for people in New Orleans and is also home to the Southern Yacht Club. In the 1920s, the

in the eastern part of the city opened, providing a direct navigable water connection, with locks, between the Mississippi River and the lake. In the same decade, a project

new land from the lake shore behind a new concrete floodwall began; this would result in an expansion of the city into the former swamp between Metairie/Gentilly Ridges and the lakefront. The

was constructed in the 1950s and 1960s, connecting New Orleans (by way of Metairie) with Mandeville, and bisecting the lake in a north-northeast line.

Hurricanes

During

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

s, a

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the ...

can build up in Lake Pontchartrain. Wind pushes water into the lake from the Gulf of Mexico as a hurricane approaches from the south, and from there it can spill into New Orleans. A hurricane in 1947 flooded much of Metairie, much of which is slightly below sea level due to land subsidence after marshland was drained. After the storm, hurricane-protection

levee A levee ( or ), dike (American English), dyke (British English; see American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural ...

s were built along Lake Pontchartrain's south shore to protect New Orleans and nearby communities. A storm surge of from

Hurricane Betsy Hurricane Betsy was an intense, deadly and destructive tropical cyclone that brought widespread damage to areas of Florida, the Bahamas, and the central United States Gulf Coast in September 1965. The storm's erratic nature, coupled with ...

overwhelmed some levees in eastern New Orleans in 1965, while a storm surge funneled in by the Mississippi River–Gulf Outlet Canal and a levee failure flooded most of the Lower 9th Ward. After this the levees encircling the city and outlying

were raised to heights of . Due to cost concerns, the levees were built to protect against only a Category 3 hurricane; however, some of the levees initially withstood the Category 5 storm surge of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

(August 2005), which only slowed to Category 3 winds within hours of landfall (due to a last-minute

eyewall replacement cycle In meteorology, eyewall replacement cycles, also called concentric eyewall cycles, naturally occur in intense tropical cyclones with maximum sustained winds greater than , or hurricane-force, and particularly in major hurricanes of Saffir–Simps ...

). Experts using computer modeling at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

after Hurricane Katrina have concluded that the levees were never topped but rather faulty design, inadequate construction, or some combination of the two were responsible for the flooding of most of New Orleans. Some canal walls leaked underneath because the wall foundations were not deep enough in peat-subsoil to withstand the pressure of higher water.

Funding

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

failed to fully fund an upgrade requested during the 1990s by the Army Corps of Engineers, and funding was cut in 2003–04 despite a 2001 study by the

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

warning that a hurricane in New Orleans was one of the country's three most likely disasters. Raising and reinforcing the levees to resist a Category 5 hurricane might take 25 years to complete. Some estimates place the cost at $25 billion.

Hurricane Katrina

When

reached Category 5 in 2005, some experts predicted that the levee system might fail completely if the storm passed close to the city. Although Katrina weakened to a Category 3 before making landfall on August 29 (with only Category 1-2 strength winds in New Orleans on the weaker side of the eye of the hurricane), the outlying New Orleans East area along south Lake Pontchartrain was in the eyewall with winds, preceding the eye, nearly as strong as those experienced in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Canals near Chalmette began leaking at 8 am, and some levees/canals, designed to withstand Category 3 storms, suffered multiple breaks the following day (see Effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans), flooding 80% of the city. The walls of the

were breached by storm surge via the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, while the 17th Street Canal and

London Avenue Canal The London Avenue Canal is a drainage canal in New Orleans, Louisiana, used for pumping rain water into Lake Pontchartrain. The canal runs through the 7th Ward of New Orleans from the Gentilly area to the Lakefront. It is one of the three main dra ...

experienced catastrophic breaches, even though water levels never topped their flood walls.

experts presented evidence that some of these structures might have had design flaws or faulty construction. There are indications that the soft earth and

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

underlying canal walls may have given way. In the weeks before Katrina, tests of

salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt (chemistry), salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensio ...

seepage In soil mechanics, seepage is the movement of water through soil. If fluid pressures in a soil deposit are uniformly increasing with depth according to u = \rho_w g z_w, where z_w is the depth below the water table, then hydrostatic conditions wi ...

pools near canals showed them to be lake water, not

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salt (chemistry), salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include ...

from broken mains. The I-10 Twin Span Bridge heading northeast between New Orleans and Slidell was destroyed. The shorter Fort Pike Bridge crossing the outlet to Lake Borgne remained intact. Much of the northern sector of the suburban areas of Metairie and Kenner was flooded with up to of water. In this area, flooding was not the result of levee overtopping but was due to a decision by the governmental administration of Jefferson Parish to abandon the levee-aligned drainage pumping stations. This resulted in the reverse flow of lake water through the pumping stations into drainage canals which subsequently overflowed, causing extensive flooding of the area between I-10 and the lakefront. When the pump operators were returned to their stations, water was drained out of Metairie and Kenner in less than a day. On September 5, 2005, the Army Corps of Engineers started to fix levee breaches by dropping huge sandbags from Chinook helicopters. The London Avenue Canal and Industrial Canal were blocked at the lake as permanent repairs started. On September 6, the Corps began pumping flood water back into the lake after seven days in the streets of New Orleans. Because it was fouled with dead animals, sewage,

heavy metals upright=1.2, Crystals of lead.html" ;"title="osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead Heavy metals is a controversial and ambiguous term for metallic elements with relatively h ...

petrochemical Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable s ...

s, and other dangerous substances, the Army Corps worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) to avoid major contamination and

eutrophication Eutrophication is a general term describing a process in which nutrients accumulate in a body of water, resulting in an increased growth of organisms that may deplete the oxygen in the water; ie. the process of too many plants growing on the s ...

of the lake. Aerial photography suggests that of water covered New Orleans as of September 2, which equals about 2% of Lake Pontchartrain's volume. Due to a lack of electric power, the city was unable to treat the water before pumping it into the lake. It is unclear how long the

will persist and what its environmental damage to the lake will be, or what the long-term health effects will be in the city from

mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures that certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal ...

and other contamination. On September 24, 2005,

Hurricane Rita Hurricane Rita was the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Gulf of Mexico, tying with Hurricane Milton in 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, 2024, as well as being the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. Part of the ...

did not breach the temporary repairs in the main part of the city, but the repair on the Industrial Canal wall in the Lower 9th Ward was breached, allowing about of water back into that neighborhood.

Notable deaths

* Eastern Air Lines Flight 304 crashed into the lake on February 25, 1964, resulting in the deaths of 51 passengers and 7 crew. * On June 16, 1964, a Trailways bus plunged off the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway into Lake Pontchartrain, killing 6. * On December 31, 1967, a chartered plane crashed into Lake Pontchartrain, killing 5 servicemen and the pilot. * On September 15, 1978, six-year-old Benjamin Daly, along with the pilot, died when a private plane his parents had chartered crashed into the lake. His parents survived. * On February 23, 1980, a twin-engine plane crashed into Lake Pontchartrain, killing 7. * On January 15, 1981, a Piper PA-23 flying in heavy fog crashed into Lake Pontchartrain while on final approach to

Lakefront Airport Lakefront Airport is a public airport five miles (eight kilometers) northeast of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana, New Orleans, in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, United States. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 FAA air ...

, killing the plane's owner and pilot Joyce W. Hornady, the 73-year-old CEO of Hornady Manufacturing Company, and two other company employees Edward A. Heers, a 34-year-old engineer, and James W. Garber, a 29-year-old customer service manager. All three men were due to attend and represent their company in the 1981

SHOT Show The SHOT Show, which is an acronym for "Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Show", is an American annual trade fair, trade show for the shooting sports, hunting, outdoor recreation, and firearm manufacturing industry (economics), industries. The ...

in New Orleans. * In 1986, a decomposing woman's body was found by two fishermen. The cause of death was homicide by

asphyxia Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects all the tissues and organs, some more rapidly than others. There are m ...

. She was not identified and no leads were ever identified in the case. In October 2024, the woman was identified as Pamela Lee Hupp, who was missing out of Fort Lauderdale, FL. Her murder case remains open. *

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

defensive end, New Orleans native, and former LSU star Marquise Hill was found dead in Lake Pontchartrain on May 28, 2007. * A U.S. Navy T-34 training plane crashed into the lake on January 23, 2010, after a routine training mission. The instructor, LT Clinton Wermers, was found dead at 0100 on January 27, 2010. The student pilot was rescued about two hours after the crash.''Navy pilot's body found in Lake Pontchartrain'', The Times-Picayune, January 27, 2010
/ref>

References

External links

Lake Pontchartrain Visitors Guide

Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation

United States Geological Survey Lake Pontchartrain Fact Sheet

Real-time water data for Lake Pontchartrain

New Orleans history of the lake

Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum

USGS Environmental Atlas of Lake Pontchartrain

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20050905010231/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/0902_050902_katrina_levees.html National Geographic article about the levees, 2 September 2005
Salon article about disaster predictions, 31 August 2005

U.S. Geological Survey article about the Lake Pontchartrain Basin, 3 November 1995

BBC article about environmental effects on the lake after the flooding of New Orleans, 8 September 2005
{{Authority control * Estuaries of Louisiana Bodies of water of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana Bodies of water of Orleans Parish, Louisiana Bodies of water of St. Charles Parish, Louisiana Bodies of water of St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana Bodies of water of St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana Bodies of water of Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana Lagoons of Louisiana Tourist attractions in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana Tourist attractions in New Orleans Tourist attractions in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana Tourist attractions in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana Tourist attractions in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana Tourist attractions in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana Oil fields of the United States